The Book of Lost Chances
"If you’d once held a book that contained a whole other world in your hands—a world where you’d found a beauty and a love that has always eluded you in this one—and then you lost it, wouldn’t you try to find it again? Wouldn’t you always keep searching?"
As children, three wayward sisters—wandering the grounds of the family’s mysterious seaside hotel in Northern California, on the day of an annual masquerade auction—discover (and steal) a highly desirable and expensive book. . . and accidentally fall into another, more magical world.
At least, Agatha and Ellery do—Margery, the eldest Ellison sister, stays behind.
At first too cautious, then panicked and furious with regret, she's the only witness to her sisters' disappearance as well as the only one to miss them during their absence. . . and when the two younger reappear, they are alternately terrified and awestruck at the fantastical, dangerous years they've spent in another world.
Determined to protect them, Margery gets rid of the book so none of the sisters could ever be tempted to return. . . .
As grownups, the Ellison sisters are separated by distance and disappointments. Agatha is wayward and searching for magic denied, while Ellery has taken her penchant for storytelling and become a bestselling author—with a book that echoes the fantastical story of another world. . . and a love that was lost forever. Margery has thrown herself at the joys of motherhood, and the mundane disappointments of her marriage—though now empty nesting, it's harder to pretend she doesn't still yearn for adventures, and the chance she hadn't taken.
But all three will be drawn together again as their secrets spill out in the face of a threat: a dangerous, enigmatic group is looking for a magical book that was stolen decades ago. And they are willing to kill to get it back. . .
The hardcover edition includes beautiful endpapers.
Guide written by Amy Root Clements
Book club questions for The Book of Lost Chances by Jennifer Lundquist
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
As you watched Ellery frantically search for the coffee-stained copy of The Isle of Elsewhere, what were your theories about the nature of the book and its magical properties? When you learned the truth, did you agree with Margery that it was a bad idea for Ellery to write The Mermaid and the Gargoyle?
Margery, Ellery, and Agatha play very different roles in their family, not only because of their ages but also because of their temperaments. What does it ultimately take to repair their once-fierce bonds? Does their relationship resonate with your own experience with your siblings?
How did your impressions of Jack shift as you discovered more about his backstory? How is he shaped by his familyʼs legacies? What traits do he and Ellery share? In contrast, why is Duncan so focused on his own hurt and unable to care about the suffering of others?
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Create My ClubWhy werenʼt Elleryʼs parents able to make their children a priority? Was alcoholism the problem or a reaction to the problem? With her protective instincts, does Margery manage to fully break the cycle after her marriage to Peter dissolves?
The Ralstonsʼ business plan is explained in chapter 20. What are the driving forces behind the success of their family empire? Are threats and secrecy necessary in their line of work, or would they have succeeded even more if they had removed the veil and become an entirely benevolent presence?
From glowing sea glass to mooncordial and indigoberries, would you have liked to visit Elsewhere? For Agatha and Ellery (and eventually Margery), how does it compare to their treacherous “home” within the Winter Grand?
What makes Agatha and Charles a good match? What wisdom and maturity does she display throughout her life, despite being pegged as the baby of the family?
Agatha says the only thing keeping her going in our quickly changing world is her “personal wonder project” where she stops and takes the time to intentionally notice the beauty around her. Are you often present to your own day-to-day surroundings, or do you feel too busy or overwhelmed to take a minute and practice the art of noticing? How do you think your life/outlook would change if you participated in your own personal wonder project?
Elsewhere makes memories fade. For the characters in the novel, is the inability to remember a blessing or a curse? If you could be face-to-face with your young self, what would you say to each other?
Which books have transported you (metaphorically) to a world that you didnʼt want to leave? If a book could literally transport you to a blissful place, what would that place look like? Who would you want to take with you? Which lost chances would you want to regain?
The Book of Lost Chances Book Club Questions PDF
Download a printable PDF of these discussion questions to bring to your meeting.